Fuel pump diaphragm mounting



Dec. 8, 1953 w. LAMB FUEL PUMP DIAPHRAGM MOUNTING Filed Jan. 20, 1950 JNVENTOR. 1am M I that portion of the construction Patented Dec. 8, 1953 FUEL PUMP DIAPHRAGM MOUNTING Wade Lamb, Detroit, Mich., assignor to F. L.

Jacobs 00., Detroit Michigan Michl, a corporation of Application January 20,1950, Serial No. 139,555

1 Claim. (01. 137-7191) The present invention relates to an improved fuel pump, and more particularly to an improved construction for providing a seal between the diaphragm and a transversely extending valve plate and between flanged complementary casing elements.

In conventional fuel pump constructions including complementary flanged casing members and a plate extending transversely of the casing and supported between the flanges of the casing members, it is necessary that certain of these parts be accurately machined or that one or more separate gaskets be employed, or both.

it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved fuel pump construction which is simple in design, economical of manufacture,

and in which an effective seal is provided between the transversely extending plate and the diaphragm and between the complementary casing members without the need for either a separate gasket or accurate machining of any of these parts.

Other and more detailed objects of the inventien will become apparent from a consideration of the following specification, the appended claim and the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a sectional view of a fuel pump construction embodying the present invention; and,

Fig. 2 is a broken enlarged sectional view of illustrated in Fig. 1, indicated by the circle 2.

It will be appreciated from a complete understanding of the present invention that the improvements thereof may be readily embodied in apparatuses of widely differing typesand designs. In an illustrative, but not in a limitingsense, the

- improvements of'the present invention are herein illustrated and described as embodied in a fuel pump adapted-for use on a gasoline internal combustion engine.

Referring to the drawing, the fuel pump there illustrated generally comprises an upper casing member I 6 having an inlet chamber l2, an outlet chamber l 4 and inlet and outlet valve means generally indicated at It for controlling the flow of full between these chambers a lower casing member 18, a diaphragm extending transversely of the casing between the upper and lower members [0 and I8 and mechanism generally indicated at 22 for effecting a pumping action of the diaphragm 20. The inlet and outlet valve means 16 illustrated in the drawing is illustrated and described in greater detail in my copending application, Serial No. 16,341, filed March 22, 1948, now Patent No. 2,542,254 granted February 20, 1951, and includes an annular rubber valve element 24 which is supported upona valve plate 26' extending transversely of the casing. The diaphragm, as will be readily appreciated from a complete understanding of the present invention,

may be formed of any suitable flexible and compressible material.

The lower housing member l8 has an annular outwardly projecting flange 28 and the upper casing member Ill has an annular outwardly projecting flange 30 adapted to register with the flange 24 of the lower casing member l8. As best illustrated in Fig. 2, the radially inner portion of the flange 30 on the upper casing member I0 is formed to define an annular recess 32 communieating with the interior of the casing. The valve plate 26 has an annular outwardly extending marginal portion 34 received in the recess 32 and of a, thickness slightly greater than the depth of the recess 32, so that the lower surface 36 of the marginal portion 34 is disposed slightly below the lower surface 38 of the flange 39. The marginal portion of the diaphragm 29 is received between the upper surface of the flange 28 formed on the lower casing member I 8 at one side, and the lower surface 36 of the marginal portion 3d of the valve plate 26 and the lower surface 38 of the flange 30 on the casing member It, at the other side.

The flanges 28 and 30 of the casing members l8 and I0 respectively are secured together to effect a firm gripping of the marginal portion of the diaphragm 20, by means of a plurality of screws 40 extending therethrough.

It will now be appreciated that as the screws 40 are tightened, the marginal portion of the diaphragm is first firmly gripped between'the lower surface 36 of the valve plate marginal portion 34 and the flange 28, thereby providing an annular seal between the valve plate 26 and the diaphragm 2! Upon further tightening of the screws 46, the diaphragm 26 is firmly gripped outwardly of the valve plate 26 between the flange 28 and the lower surface 38 of the flange 30 to provide annular seals between the casing mem-' bers l0 and I8 and the marginal portion of the diaphragm 20 gripped between these flanges.

The above described construction permits the casing parts l0 and I8 and the valve plate 26 to be die cast and used without machining since it will be appreciated that it will not be necessary that there be a perfect fit between the valve plate 26 and the upper casing member In in which it is mounted. It will also be noted that the above described construction eliminates the necessity of using one or more gaskets.

Although only one specific embodiment of the 3 invention has been illustrated and described in detail, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that numerous modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

In a fuel pump, a casing including a pair of complementary elements having cooperating annular flanges, a diaphragm extending transversely of said casing and having an annular marginal portion received between said. flanges, one of said elements having an annular recessformed in the radially inner annular portion of the flange thereof and communicating with the interior of said casing, a plate extending transversely of said casing at one side of said diaphragm andhaving an annular marginal portion received in said recess'and of a thickness slightly greater than the depth of said recess measured at right angles to the surface of said flange engaging said diaphragm, said marginal portion of said plate cooperating with the inner portion of the flange of the other of said elements to grip said marginal portion of said diaphragm therebetween when the latter is gripped between said flanges of said casing elements, and means for effecting said gripping of the marginal portion of the diaphragm between the flanges of said elements.

WADE LAMB.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,643,500 Jacobson et al. Sept. 2'7, 192'? 1,863,075 Terry June 14, 1932 2,202,313 Grove May 28, 1940 

